William Balsamo

This is a reasonably comprehensive overview of the history of the Mob in America. The authors have spent a lot of time piecing together facts and details of the thugs that have populated the criminal underworld of America since before World War 1.

There is a mass of detail in here, and some of it makes for fairly unpalatable reading. If you were a member of the Mafia, then your chances of living to an old age were slim as you became the next victim of the infighting between gangs, given the number of murders that are reported in here. The author covers the different ages as the heads of the gangs rise in power, and there are chapters n the men who would become household names in America in their time, such as Al Capone.

I get the feeling that a proportion of this is fictionalised, in particular the details of conversations from a number of years ago, but it does make it read better. Later details of cases and the vile characters that are here can be substantiated from wiretaps. An interesting read, really only 2.5 stars.… (mere)